Caitriona Dowd

About Caitriona Dowd

Caitriona Dowd is Assistant Professor in UCD’s School of Politics and International Relations (SPIRe).

Her research focuses on the dynamics of political violence in sub-Saharan Africa, with particular attention to the role of conflict in humanitarian crises and food insecurity; civilian targeting; and the use of new and emerging methodologies for violence monitoring. Employing a combination of quantitative, geographic and qualitative methodologies, Caitriona’s research explores patterns of conflict in comparative contexts, in both cross-national and country-focused cases. Caitriona’s work has been published in international peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Peace Research, African Affairs, Terrorism and Political Violence, Political Geography, Peacebuilding, The Journal of Modern African Studies and Annals of the American Association of Geographers.

Caitriona currently co-leads an Irish Research Council-funded COALESCE project on the gendered dimensions of food insecurity and hunger in peacebuilding, together with collaborators at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in South Africa.

In her previous role as a peace and conflict specialist in the humanitarian sector, Caitriona worked in Somalia, Central African Republic, South Sudan, Mali, Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Afghanistan. She holds degrees from the University of Sussex, London School of Economics and Political Science, and Trinity College Dublin.